Cumulative cultural evolution and mechanisms for cultural selection in wild bird songs

Heather Williams (), Andrew Scharf, Anna R. Ryba, D. Ryan Norris, Daniel J. Mennill, Amy E. M. Newman, Stéphanie M. Doucet and Julie C. Blackwood
Additional contact information
Heather Williams: Williams College
Andrew Scharf: Williams College
Anna R. Ryba: Williams College
D. Ryan Norris: University of Guelph
Daniel J. Mennill: University of Windsor
Amy E. M. Newman: University of Guelph
Stéphanie M. Doucet: University of Windsor
Julie C. Blackwood: Williams College

Nature Communications, 2022, vol. 13, issue 1, 1-11

Abstract: Abstract Cumulative cultural evolution, the accumulation of sequential changes within a single socially learned behaviour that results in improved function, is prominent in humans and has been documented in experimental studies of captive animals and managed wild populations. Here, we provide evidence that cumulative cultural evolution has occurred in the learned songs of Savannah sparrows. In a first step, “click trains” replaced “high note clusters” over a period of three decades. We use mathematical modelling to show that this replacement is consistent with the action of selection, rather than drift or frequency-dependent bias. Generations later, young birds elaborated the “click train” song form by adding more clicks. We show that the new songs with more clicks elicit stronger behavioural responses from both males and females. Therefore, we suggest that a combination of social learning, innovation, and sexual selection favoring a specific discrete trait was followed by directional sexual selection that resulted in naturally occurring cumulative cultural evolution in the songs of this wild animal population.

Date: 2022
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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-022-31621-9

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